


Wanted

by Banana_Phone



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, F/M, Roommates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2020-05-12 13:45:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19230310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Banana_Phone/pseuds/Banana_Phone
Summary: After another fight with his step-father, Sebastian wants out of Pelican Town. Now!April is desperate for a roommate, because nobody wants to live in such a small and overpriced apartment.Will living together stay a matter of convenience of will the relationship turn into something more?





	Wanted

**Hey, is the room from the ad still available?**

 

**It sure is!**

**Are you interested in it?**

 

**Very**

 

**Awesome! I do interviews in a little coffee shop near the apartment**

**When would be a good time for you?**

 

**ASAP**

 

**Tomorrow?**

 

**That’d be great**

 

**Sounds good**

**I’ll meet you at the Aroma’s Coffee Shop on 148th and Oak St at 6 pm**

**There’s a 2 top table by the window facing the street I’ll meet you at**

 

**See you then**

 

Another fight with Demetrius. That’s what led to Sebastian sitting in the small cafe waiting for an unknown person to show up and interview him for a room in their apartment. Nervousness filled him as he read the message again. He was 10 minutes early but felt the need to check the time and location once again. 

 

The fight with his stepfather was another petty disagreement that had gotten out of hand again. Even though Sebastian paid his mother rent every month, it wasn’t enough for Demetrius. He wanted Sebastian to get a “real job”. As if computer programming wasn’t a real job, just because he didn’t leave the house and travel to an office every day. He was a freelancer. He worked from home. He got paid good money. 

 

It was time to cut the cord and move out of his mother’s house. Past time. After the fight, he had stormed out of the house to smoke a cigarette by the lake next to his house. As he sat and fumed, he pulled out his phone bringing up Greg’s List and began to browse apartment listings in Zuzu City. He had always wanted to move to the city and now was the time. 

 

He just hadn’t realized how expensive it would be. Double checking his bank account, he saw that he did, in fact, have a good amount saved up to move out. But he was a smart guy, and also wanted to be sure that once he moved out, he could sustain living on his own. The apartments in Zuzu City all seemed small and expensive, but he didn’t need much space. 

 

An ad had finally caught his eye. It wasn’t for a whole apartment, just somebody looking for a roommate. A room in a two bedroom apartment meant that he would only have to pay half the rent of getting an apartment on his own. Which was why he was nervously reading his messages again as he sat in the cafe. This was his best shot at getting away from his parents’ house, but he had to get past an interview.

 

Which he understood. He wouldn’t want just anybody moving into his place. What if they were a weirdo? His stomach dropped. What if the person interviewing him was weird? Would he still take the apartment just to get away from his parents’? It depended on how weird, he supposed.

 

“Hi!” came a sing-song voice, breaking him from his thoughts and making him look up. “Are you here about the room?” 

 

Standing in front of him was a young woman. She was cute. Her brown hair was pulled into a ponytail, fly away hairs framing her heart-shaped face. A wide smile spread across her face making her light brown eyes sparkle. Standing up in greeting, Sebastian found that she was half a head shorter than him.

 

“Yeah, I’m Sebastian,” he said, holding out his hand to her.

 

“I’m April,” she beamed back, taking his hand in her own in a firm handshake. Taking the seat across from him, she set her paper cup full of coffee on the table between them, Sebastian returning to his seat, holding his hands awkwardly in his lap. “What kind of coffee did you get?”

 

“Oh, umm,” Sebastian stammered. “Plain black.”

 

“This place has amazing turtle lattes,” she said, pointing to her own cup. “Lots of places like to skimp on the hazelnut, but this place gives you just enough to give you a nice after taste.” 

 

“I’ll have to try it sometime,” Sebastian grinned, nerves still getting the best of him. He felt like he was on a first date. And, in a way, he was. 

 

“So basically,” April began, cutting right to the chase. “I just want to get to know you a little bit. See if you’d be a good match to be a roommate. Make sure you’re not a creep who will murder me in my sleep. You know that kind of thing.” 

 

“All important things to know,” Sebastian grinned again, beginning to bounce his leg with nervousness. 

 

“Yeah,” She smiled, “So just be yourself!” 

 

“Okay.” 

 

“So first of all, rent in eight thousand gold a month split two ways, so you’d pay half and I’d pay half,” she began, giving a speech that Sebastian was sure she had given a few times before. “On top of that, there’s power, water, gas, and internet. Those can go one of two ways: we can split them down the middle every month or you can pick two and make sure they get paid every month. Would you have any problems with paying your half on time every month?”

 

“No, no problem.”

 

“Great!” She beamed at him. “If I were to call your previous landlord, what would they say about you?”

 

“Well, I, uhh… Live with my parents still,” Sebastian stammered a flush rising to his cheeks. “So they’d probably say that they wished I’d stop dying my hair and get a real job…” April laughed and took a sip from her coffee. Sebastian mirrored her, taking a drink of his. 

 

“What do you do for work?”

 

“I’m a freelance computer programmer,” he stated and watched her eyebrows go up in interest. 

 

“Wow,” she said, sounding impressed. “Sounds like a real job to me.”

 

“Yeah, I work from home though, so my family thinks I just sit and watch cat videos all day or something,” Sebastian concluded with a shrug. 

 

“Family is always good for nitpicking,” April replied with a shake of her head. “My mom wants to know why she doesn’t have grand kids yet.” She gave an exaggerated roll of her eyes making him chuckle.

 

“I’ve unfortunately heard that one too.”

 

“What about your friends? Would you have your friends over a lot?” April said, moving on to the next question. He gave a slight shake of his head. 

 

“All my friends are an hour away,” he replied. “But even if they were closer, they still wouldn’t be around very often.” 

 

“Where’re you from?”

 

“Pelican Town,” he replied.

 

“I’m not really sure where that is.”

 

“It’s on the southern coast,” he explained. “A town of about 40 whole people.” 

 

“Oh damn, a tiny town!” 

 

“Yeah…” 

 

“Any pets?”

 

“No.”

 

“Any objections to pets?”

 

“Nope, I just don’t have one.”

 

“Good,” She replied. “I have a cat named Tubbs. He’s a chonky boy who likes to cuddle, but he’ll stay out of your room if you keep the door closed.”

 

“Good to know,” Sebastian grinned. 

 

“Let’s see, what else?” April muttered aloud. “I think that’s about it… is there anything you want to know about me?” 

 

“Oh… uhh,” Sebastian stammered, momentarily put on the spot. “No… I don’t think so.” 

 

“What do you think? Would we be able to get along?”

 

“Yeah, I mean… I don’t see why we wouldn’t,” Sebastian shrugged again. 

 

“Well, do you want to see the place?”

 

“Yes!” He replied excitedly. If she was going to show him the apartment, surely that meant that he had passed the interview and was on his way to moving away from home. She stood, picking up her coffee.

 

“Let’s take a walk,” she smiled at him. He stood, grabbing his coffee in one hand and made to follow her.

 

Following her closely, she led him out of the small coffee shop, but they didn’t walk far. April stopped at a glass door set into the brick wall of the coffee shop and took out a set of keys, unlocking the door and holding it open for him. 

 

“I told you it was close to the coffee shop,” she laughed. The hallway and staircase ahead of him felt too dark for the time of day, but still, Sebastian stepped inside, April following close behind and making sure the door closed firmly behind her. As his eyes adjusted to the dim space, he found there was a row of mailboxes along the wall to his left and a set of elevators to his right. A dingy, carpet covered staircase led to another floor straight ahead. "The apartment is on the ninth floor, so we'll take the elevator," April commented, pushing the call button. "Hope you're not claustrophobic."

 

"No," he replied as the doors opened. Stepping inside, he watched as April pushed the button with a 9 on it and it lit up. As the rickety elevator began to ascend, however, he did feel slightly afraid for his life, wondering how much weight the ancient elevator could actually hold. 

 

"The elevator actually makes moving in so much easier," April stated, making conversation, oblivious to Sebastian's death grip on the handrail attached to the wall. "You still live at home, so you've probably never experienced the fun of lugging a sofa up several flights of stairs… it's no picnic."

 

"Yeah…" Sebastian sighed, his eyes drifting to the dial above the closed doors that slowly rounded toward the number 9. 

 

The elevator shuddered to a stop and with an electronic ping, the doors slid open revealing a dimly lit hallway beyond. Stepping out behind April, Sebastian followed her closely as she walked down the hall. Walking almost all the way down the hall, she finally stopped in front of a door, putting a key into the lock and turning it. The door swung open and April reached inside, turning on a light before gesturing for Sebastian to step inside. 

 

“It’s small,” she commented as he stepped over the threshold. She wasn’t wrong, he saw as he took everything in. He stood in the minuscule entryway, with a narrow kitchen to his left. It looked barely wide enough to open the oven completely. There was a pass-through in the kitchen wall above the stove that led into the living room. As he walked further into the apartment, he found the pass-through was actually a bar to sit and eat at, complete with two wooden stools pushed underneath.

 

The living room was small, but he didn’t expect to use it often, usually preferring the comforts of his own bedroom. It contained a little couch with a chaise sticking out from it that looked like it had seen better days; a low wooden coffee table complete with scuff marks and glass rings; a TV on a cheap glass and metal stand which also held a GameStation and a mixture of games and DVDs; a bookshelf that stood against the wall looked like it was being held up by the books that crowded it's shelves. 

 

“Your room would be this one,” April said as she gestured to an alcove that held 3 doors inside. Turning, he followed her as she opened the door. “You’ll get the bigger of the two rooms. The bathroom is this door in the middle.” she opened the next door to reveal a bathroom just big enough to stand in. A toilet sat across from the sink that sat in a small cabinet with a hairbrush and a cup with a toothbrush adorning the limited counter space. The bathtub sat along the far wall, hidden by a white shower curtain. 

 

Stepping into the empty room, he hated to think about the size of the smaller room. Once he got furniture into the empty space he’d barely have room to move around. His mind immediately began turning and thinking of ways to arrange his furniture and save space. He definitely wouldn’t be able to bring his sofa with him. Bringing a hand to his chin in thought, he wondered how much wall mounted bookshelves would cost and if the walls of the room would support them.

 

“What do you think?” April asked meekly, bringing him away from his thoughts. He turned, looking at her framed by the bedroom doorway.

 

“It’s perfect,” he replied honestly. He would have slept on the sofa in the living room as long as it meant that he could move out of his parent’s basement. 

 

“Really?” she asked, astonishment in her voice. 

 

“Yeah.”

 

“People usually take a look at the size and tell me ‘no way’.”

 

“Yeah, I mean, it’s small,” Sebastian agreed. “But it’s not like I’m going to need a lot of room.”

 

“That’s great!” she exclaimed excitedly. “The room is yours if you want it.”

 

“I can move in this weekend,” Sebastian replied, already thinking of renting a moving truck and roping Sam into helping him move. 

 

She turned and moved without a word and he followed her back to the entryway by the kitchen. He watched as she removed a set of keys from a hook by the door. Turning to look at him with a beaming smile, she held out the set of keys. Outstretching his hand, palm up, he gripped the keys firmly as they were dropped into his hand.

 

“It’s all yours,” she smiled.

 


End file.
